Program - Industry Collaboration Panel

Industrial Collaboration Panel

Wednesday, August 9th

10:00am – 11:40am

Room 1

Industrial development eﬀorts, like technical work in other venues, can beneﬁt from multiple approaches to design optimization or technical issue resolution. Leveraging creative approaches from multiple communities, disciplines, and technical backgrounds may produce better, more robust product designs, resolve issues, or otherwise improve process and product development for the beneﬁt of a company. Corporate budgets are typically constrained, and it is expensive to keep a varied technical staﬀ on hand just in case the latest technical challenge requires or could possibly beneﬁt from a particular approach or technical perspective. On the other hand, university faculty represent an enormous pool of deep technical expertise in a wide spectrum of engineering and science disciplines. Furthermore, faculty members who work on industrial problems may beneﬁt from their perspective and insights gained through their involvement in product development initiatives and issue resolution. How speciﬁcally can a company beneﬁt from involving academic researchers in their product development eﬀorts? What beneﬁts do academic researchers gain from an association with industrial development? What are the diﬃculties and challenges inherent to building cross-community teams? This panel discussion will attempt to address these questions through presentation of particular examples of company and university joint work.

Panelists

Brian Olson, Johns Hopkins University

Biography
Dr. Brian Olson is a Senior Engineer and Section Supervisor in the Air and Missile Dense Sector at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), the largest university affiliated research center in the nation. Dr. Olson joined JHU/APL in 2006 after receiving the BS, MS and PhD degrees from Michigan State University. He leads a team of engineers to apply innovative dynamics tools and methodologies to solve complex interdisciplinary problems that affect programs of national importance.

James Redmond, Sandia National Laboratories

Biography
Jim Redmond is a Senior Manager at Sandia National Laboratories, leading the Structural Mechanics Group with responsibility for stewarding computational simulation capabilities to support a diverse set of National Security applications. He has been with the labs for 24 years serving as post-doc, staff, and manager. Among his technical contributions, Jim developed control schemes to improve precision manufacturing processes and helped establish R&D programs in Microscale Dynamics, coupled Structural Acoustics, and Re-entry simulation. He has been called upon to support national emergency response teams, including the NTSB I-35W Bridge Collapse, The Deep Water Horizon Accident, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Technical Assessment Team. Jim holds BS and MS degrees in Aerospace Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering all for North Carolina State University.

Mary Baker, ATA Engineering Inc

Biography
Dr. Mary Baker is President and Technical Director of ATA Engineering Inc. She received a B.S. in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Wisconsin, a M.S. and Ph.D. from Caltech and in 2014 was awarded the Caltech Distinguished Alumni Award for leadership in Aerospace. Mary was part of a team that has brought new methods in structural dynamics and mechanical CAD to aerospace projects including a leadership role in the development and support of the space shuttle, space station, Delta and Atlas Launch vehicles, the RL10A, B, C and J-2X rocket engines, loads analysis of the Mars Science Laboratory, and structural evaluation of the James Webb Space Telescope. Throughout this project work the role and focus of Mary and the ATA team has been on developing better test and analysis methods to support the design of highly engineered mechanical products.

Steve Shaw, Michigan State University

Biography
Steve Shaw serves as Harris Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at Florida Institute of Technology and is also affiliated with the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University. He earned his PhD in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Cornell in 1983. His interests are in the general field of dynamics and vibrations of mechanical systems with an emphasis on understanding and utilizing nonlinear behavior for engineering applications. His current research activities focus on the interplay of nonlinearity and noise in small-scale vibrational devices, the design of micro- and nano-scale resonators for sensing and signal processing applications, and the development of vibration absorbers for use in automotive powertrain components. He is a currently a member of the Steering Committee for a £4.5M multi-university/industrial EPSRC grant on Engineering Nonlinearity in the UK and has served as a member of the ASME Technical Committee on Vibration and Sound and as the Vice Chair of the SIAM Dynamical Systems Activity Group. Steve frequently consults for automotive companies and legal firms. His research has been supported by the US National Science Foundation; companies such as FCA, Ford, Valeo, and Honda; and the Department of Defense through ARO, AFOSR, and DARPA. Steve is a fellow of ASME Fellow and recipient of the Henry Ford Customer Satisfaction Award, the ASME Henry Hess Award, the SAE Arch T. Colwell Merit Award, and the ASME N. O. Myklestad Award.

Bruce Geist

Biography
Bruce Geist is an applied mathematician and Technical Fellow at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, currently working in powertrain simulation and computer aided engineering. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics from University of New Mexico, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has been working as an applied mathematician in industry for more than 22 years, and at FCA for more than 17 years. He has published in multiple applied mathematics and engineering journals on topics ranging from engine component design and optimization to applied number theory and cryptography. He has 12 granted patents and others pending. At FCA, he has carried out applied mathematical work to assist in design and optimization of engine components and systems, transmission components and systems, vehicle calibration and control, and powertrain and vehicle efficiency. He has partnered and built collaborative relationships with university faculty from a number of different universities in an effort to deliver solutions to his employer.